Sources page probability recreations

P. 309, no. 76: Hexen-Schlüssel = Double witch key.

P. 311, no. 91: Wodanschlüssel = Hooks.

P. 311, no. 98. A type of Tangle twister.

P. 311, no. 99. Interlocked nails.

P. 311, no. 100. Double witch key.

Western Puzzle Works, 1926 Catalogue.

No. 10: Link the Link. Two hooks.

No. 102: Nails.

No. 71: Elk Horns. Patented.

No. 1978: [unnamed, circular bits with tails, sometimes called Question Marks or Double Witch Key.]

No. 211: Tantalizer -- like nails but one piece is twisted at both ends.

Collins. Book of Puzzles. 1927. The Eastern question, pp. 53-54. As in Hoffmann, with very similar diagram.

S&B 95 calls the interlocked hooks, Loop the Loop or The Devil's Keys, and shows it, but gives no date. S&B 96-97

Ch'ung-En Yü. Ingenious Ring Puzzle Book. 1958. Op. cit. in 7.M.1. P. 21 shows the interlocked nails puzzle.
11.K.7. HORSESHOES PUZZLE
See S&B 99.
Magician's Own Book (UK version). 1871. The ring and wire-loop puzzle, p. 113. With elongated horseshoe parts.

Hoffmann. 1893. Chap. VIII: Wire puzzles, no. 6: The double bow and ring (= Horseshoes puzzle) = Hoffmann-Hordern p. 201. Photo on p. 201 shows an undated example. Hordern Collection, p. 82, shows two versions, La Question du Divorce and Les Anneaux Diaboliques, dated 1880-1905.

H. F. Hobden. Wire puzzles and how to make them. The Boy's Own Paper 19 (No. 945) (13 Feb 1896) 332-333. Hourglass and ring.

Benson. 1904. Chap. VIII: Wire puzzles, pp. 236 240. The bow and ring puzzle. (= Hoffmann no. 6.)

M. Adams. Indoor Games. 1912. Pp. 337 341. The hourglass and ring. (= Hoffmann 6.)

Bartl. c1920.

P. 307, no. 62: Hufe an einer Kette. Here the horseshoes are joined by bits of chain.

P. 308, no. 66: Vexierlyra. Here the horseshoes are in a 'lyre' shape.

P. 310, no. 88: Hufeisen-Vexierspiel.

Ch'ung-En Yü. Ingenious Ring Puzzle Book. 1958. Op. cit. in 7.M.1. Pp. 18-19 discusses the "horseshoes puzzle" which is called "Jade Interlocked Ring Puzzle" and is "the simplest and easiest puzzle of the Incomplete Ring Type". Yü then discusses more complex versions of the puzzle.
11.K.8. THE CAUGHT HEART
This puzzle is isomorphic to 11.B.
Hoffmann. 1893. Chap. VIII: Wire puzzles, pp. 302 314. No. 1: The united hearts.

Ernest C. Fincham. Street Toys. Strand Mag. 10 (1895) 765-773. Shows: "Ally Sloper" puzzle (a Caught heart) and Gridiron puzzle (basically an elaborated version of the Caught heart).

H. F. Hobden. Wire puzzles and how to make them. The Boy's Own Paper 19 (No. 945) (13 Feb 1896) 332-333. Cupid's bow (similar to Hoffmann 1).

Benson. 1904. Chap. VIII: Wire puzzles, pp. 236 240. The two hearts. (= Hoffmann no. 1.)

M. Adams. Indoor Games. 1912. Pp. 337 341.

Cupid's bow. (c= Hoffmann 1.)

The heart and link. (= Cupid's bow, c= Hoffmann 1.)

The gridiron and shovel (c= Cupid's bow, c= Hoffmann 1.)

Bartl. c1920. P. 308, no. 65: Vexierherz.

Collins. Book of Puzzles. 1927. The twin hearts puzzle, pp. 44-45. As in Hoffmann, with similar diagram.

Ch'ung-En Yü. Ingenious Ring Puzzle Book. 1958. Op. cit. in 7.M.1. P. 26 shows a single heart, similar to Hoffmann 1, but with a doubled second part, called Recessed Handle Ring Puzzle.
11.L. JACOB'S LADDER AND OTHER HINGING DEVICES
I am now realising that a number of the objects in 6.D, namely the tetraflexagons and the trick or magic books, are just extended forms of the Jacob's ladder. See also Engel in 6.X. The Chinese wallet has two boards with this kind of hinging so it can open on either side, giving different effects.
Pacioli. De Viribus. c1500. Ff. 229r - 229v, Part 2, Capitolo. CXXXII. Do(cumento). del solazo puerile ditto bugie (On the childish recreation called deception?). = Peirani 316 317. Uses two tablets and three leather straps. Describes how to use it to catch a straw. His references show that it is called 'calamita di legno' (calamity of wood (or magnet of wood -- depending on whether the Italian is calamità or calamita) in Italian.

Bernardino Luini. "A Boy with a Toy" or "Cherub with a Game of Patience". Proby Collection, Elton Hall, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire. The painting is 15" by 13" (38 cm by 33 cm). Luini was a fairly well known Lombard follower of Leonardo, born c1470 and last known in 1533. I have found no indication of the date of the work, but the middle of his working life is c1510. The figure is reproduced in: Angela Ottino della Chiesa; Bernardino Luini; Electa Editrice, Milan, 1980, item 59, but the quality is not good. The painting is described in: G. C. Williamson; Bernardino Luini; George Bell and Sons, London, 1900, pp. 104-105. Williamson says the tapes holding the boards together are red and are apparently holding a straw, but he doesn't seem to recognize the object.

F. Bartolozzi made a nice engraving of this in 1795, attributing the painting to da Vinci, as was generally believed at the time. James Dalgety has an example and I have a photo of it.

Gustav Pauli. Ausstellung von Gemälden der Lombardischen Schule im Burlington Fine Arts Club London April - Juni 1898. (Schluss). Zeitschrift für bildene Kunst (NF) 10 (1898-1899) 149. The Luini was on display and the author describes the toy as a 'Taschenspielerstückchen', a little juggler's trick -- but recall that juggler was long a synonym for magician -- with two boards which allow one to vanish the straw.

Bernardino Licino (attrib.). "Portrait of a Man with a Puzzle". Picture Gallery, Hampton Court Palace, London, Richmond upon Thames, London. Licinio was a Venetian painter born about 1485 and last known in 1549. The painting is described and illustrated (in B&W) in John Shearman; The Early Italian Pictures in the Collection of Her Majesty The Queen; CUP, 1983, item 141, plate 124. It is very similar to another portrait known to be by Licinio and dated 1524, so this is probably c1524 and hence a bit later than the Luini. Shearman cites the Luini painting and Pauli's notice of it. The description says the binding tapes are red, as in the Luini, and both show something like a straw being trapped in the wallet, which suggests some connection between the two pictures, though it may just be that this toy was then being produced in or imported to North Italy and was customarily made with red tapes. On the toy is an inscription: Carpendo Carperis Ipse (roughly: Snapping snaps the snapper), but Shearman says it definitely appears to be an addition, though its paint is not noticeably newer than the rest of the painting. Shearman says the toy comprises 'three or more rectangles ...', though both paintings clearly show just two pieces. My thanks to Peter Hajek who reported seeing this in an email of 22 May 1998

Prévost. Clever and Pleasant Inventions. (1584), 1998. Pp. 136-140. Chinese wallet.

Schwenter. 1636, Part 15, exercise 27, pp. 551-552. "Ein einmaul zu machen." Chinese wallet. I can't find Einmaul in my dictionaries.

Witgeest. Het Natuurlyk Tover-Boek. 1686. Prob. 66, pp. 49-50. Chinese wallet.

Peter Haining. Moveable Books An Illustrated History. New English Library, 1979. Pp. 12 13 shows The Unique Click Tablets of c1790 which is a Jacob's Ladder of six pieces with a two part picture glued to each face, described as 'possibly unique'. The pictures are uncoloured and similar to those occurring in chapbooks and/or hornbooks of the period. (Thanks to Christopher Holtom for this information.)

de Savigny. Livre des Écoliers. 1846. P. 272: Les deux planchettes. Shows 3½ parts and indicates one can continue beyond four. "Tous les écoliers connaissent le jeu des planchettes ...."

Leslie Daiken. Children's Toys Throughout the Ages. Spring Books, London, 1963. Plate 6 on p. 24 shows "Hand operated game of changing pictures, c. 1850" which clearly shows the "Jacob's ladder" hinging with four parts.

An example with nine blocks with coloured pictures, possibly home-made, mid 19C, was advertised by a book dealer in 2003.

Edward Hordern's collection has an example with four panels from c1854.

Hanky Panky. 1872. The magic pocket-book (Die zwei magichen [sic] Brieftaschen), pp. 270-272. This seems to be a form of this mechanism similar to the Chinese wallet.

H. F. Hobden. Jacob's ladder, and how to make it. The Boy's Own Paper 12 (No. 592) (17 May 1890) 526. Says he doesn't know why it is called Jacob's ladder, but that it has been popular "for a number of years". Suggests at least 7 blocks, preferably 12.

Hutchison. Op. cit. in 5.A. 1891. Chap. 71: Jacob's ladder, and other contrivances. Section I -- Jacob's ladder, pp. 583 585. Shows it clearly. Suggests use of 12 parts, or at least 7.

Axel O. Sodergren. US Patent 778,282 -- Folding Picture-Album. Applied: 28 Mar 1904; patented: 27 Dec 1904. 2pp + 2pp diagrams. Ordinary Jacob's Ladder used to display pictures.

Davenport's catalogue, op. cit. in 10.T, c1940, pp. 8 & 21, shows the two part version called The Wonderful Magic Book, now often sold as the Chinese Wallet.

Norman F. Rutherford. US Patent 2,245,875 -- Toy. Applied: 4 Dec 1939; patented: 17 June 1941. 4pp + 7pp diagrams. "... a development of and improvement upon the toy known for years under the name of Jacob's ladder." Starts with two block versions, then shows 8 blocks formed into a ring and a number of shapes it can form. Then considers three blocks in an L with hinges in two directions, using with square or hexagonal blocks. Then considers five blocks in a W, or closed into a four block ring and the seven block extension of this idea, closed into a six block ring, and the nine block version closed into an eight block ring. then considers the six hexagon version in a ring. All in all, a pretty direct ancestor of Rubik's Magic puzzle.
11.M. PUZZLE BOXES
A six piece burr with identical flat notched pieces and no key piece is sometimes assembled by forcing together (perhaps after steaming) to make an unopenable money box. Cf 6.W.5. Vesta boxes were small boxes to hold matches and were popular from c1850 to c1920. Some of these had trick openings and form a distinct class of puzzle boxes.
Catel. Kunst-Cabinet. 1790. Das Vexierkästchen, p. 21 & fig. 21 on plate I. Figure just shows a box. Text says the cover is "made like a see-saw" and one presses firmly on one side and the other lifts up.

Bestelmeier. 1801. Item 208: Eine Kästchen, welches man ohne das Geheimniss zu wissen nicht öfnen kan.

Jerry Slocum, compiler. Match box puzzles and related trick boxes from catalogs, books and patents. Jan 1993. 12pp, with 25 entries during 1843-1912, some entries being lists of many items. Includes Crambrook, Taylor, Peck & Snyder (only items 35 & 122), Hoffmann (items 30-39), below.

Crambrook. 1843. P. 3 lists 24 types of Puzzling Boxes. ??